NOAKHALI : The Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) has started drilling of new gas well on Tuesday at Barocharigaon of Shenbagh upazila here.

The state-owned petroleum exploration and production company is primarily expecting seven million cubic-feet gas likely to add in the national grid from this newly explored gas field.

“The excavation of the gas well is progressing in full swing under ‘Sundalpur-4 Evaluation and Development Well Excavation Project’ and it will continue for 45 days”, said the BAPEX sources.

Initially, the BAPEX has set excavation of 1,550 meters target depth under the soil with discovering of natural gas in two separate zones.

“The entire accumulated gas reserve will be known after concluding the drilling operation for the next 45 days”, said Zakir Hossain, drilling in-charge of the project.

The Petrobangla started the first gas exploration in Noakhali's Begumganj Upazila in 1976, then the second gas well was drilled in 1978, but gas was not available from these two wells.
In 2013, the drilling of third gas well started and now around 8 million cubic feet gas is being yielded and channeled to the national grid from the well after necessary maintenance of the well in 2018.

Besides this, the BAPEX also had drilled three gas wells named Sundalpur-1, Sundalpur-2 and Sundalpur-3 while the gas production from the Sundalpur-1 and 3 remain suspended now.

But the gas supply to the national grid from the Sundalpur-2 project is still going on.